Aristotle said "to give away money is an easy matter…and in any man's power. But to decide to whom to give it, and how large and when, for what purpose and how, is neither in every man's power nor an easy matter." Many Americans will be making those decisions in the final days of tax year 2007. Guest host Lawrence O'Donnell explores how we can target our charitable giving to be most effective. Also, the tiger attack in the San Francisco Zoo.

FROM THIS EPISODE

Aristotle said "to give away money is an easy matter…and in any man's power. But to decide to whom to give it, and how large and when, for what purpose and how, is neither in every man's power nor an easy matter." Many Americans will be making those decisions in the final days of tax year 2007. Guest host Lawrence O'Donnell explores how we can target our charitable giving to be most effective. Also, a 350-pound tiger escaped from its enclosure and killed a man at the
San Francisco Zoo yesterday. The same animal mauled a zookeeper last
year. Are tigers safe enough for public zoos?

T'is the season of charitable giving, but how well do charities use the money we give them? Americans will donate about $300 billion to charities this year. Will the money be used the way the donors think it will? How effective is our charitable giving? How much is wasted? How difficult is it to give away the huge sums that billionaires are pumping into their favored causes? And what unintended consequences result from our best intentions?

Near sunset on Christmas Day at the San Francisco Zoo, a Siberian tiger named Tatiana escaped from her grotto and attacked three visitors, killing one. Steve Rubenstein has been covering the story for the San Francisco Chronicle.